Responding to a call to action contained in an audio signal

ABSTRACT

An audio signal is monitored to detect the presence of a call to action contained therein. Addressing information is automatically extracted from the call to action and stored on a storage medium. An electronic message responding to the call to action may be automatically prepared, or a contact field may be automatically populated for inclusion in a contact list. The audio signal may be digitized or obtained from a broadcast transmission, and the process may be performed by a mobile communication device, a central system, or a combination thereof.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates generally to audio processing, and moreparticularly, to methods and devices for responding to a call to actioncontained in an audio signal.

In radio and television broadcasts, calls to action are often includedin programming or advertising. A call to action may include aninvitation to participate in a vote, subscribe to a service or visit awebsite. A call to action generally includes addressing information thata listener must use for responding to the call to action, such as atelephone number, SMS code or website URL. To be able to respond to acall to action, a listener must try to record or remember the addressinginformation. This can be especially difficult if the listener is engagedin another activity while listening, such as driving, working orexercising. A frustrated listener who has missed a call to action thathe or she wished to respond to has little choice but to hope that thecall to action will be broadcast again.

Speech recognition software programs provided for personal computers orlaptops are currently able to recognize spoken words and display them ina word processing program, such as Microsoft Word®. Other speechrecognition software programs executable on different platforms are ableto respond to predefined keyword instructions. These systems, however,do not include the ability to extract addressing information provided inconjunction with calls to action contained in audio signals.

Thus, there is a need for a means to respond to a call to actioncontained in an audio signal that allows a listener to retrieve theaddressing information and decide whether to initiate further actionusing the retrieved addressing information.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, the present invention provides a means for automaticallyresponding to a call to action contained in an audio signal. Spokencontent is identified in the audio signal and a call to actionrecognized therein. Addressing information and response contentinformation are extracted from the call to action and stored on astorage medium for later use. Using the stored addressing informationand response content information, an electronic message responding tothe call to action may be automatically prepared, or a contact field maybe automatically populated for inclusion in a contact list.

In one embodiment, the audio signal is monitored by a mobilecommunication device. The mobile communication device digitizes theaudio signal (if required) and buffers the signal to maintain acontinuous buffer of the audio signal in a buffer file on a memory ofthe mobile communication device. A processing module provided on themobile communication device analyzes the digital audio signal torecognize spoken content therein. A detecting module then detects thepresence of a spoken indication of a call to action. In one aspect,responsive to the detecting module detecting a call to action, themobile communication device transmits at least a portion of the bufferfile to a central server. A parsing module at the central server thenparses the buffer file to extract addressing information provided inconjunction with the call to action. The parsing module may also extractresponse content information provided in conjunction with the call toaction. A storage module then stores the addressing information andresponse content information on a storage medium for later use.

The storage medium may be located locally on the mobile communicationdevice, in which case the addressing information and response contentinformation is first transmitted to the mobile communication device bythe central server. Alternatively, the storage medium may be remotelyprovided by a database that may be accessible via a remote terminalthrough the Internet. Similarly, the parsing module may be provided onthe mobile communication device rather than at the central server.Responsive to the detecting module detecting a call to action, theparsing module parses the buffer file to extract addressing informationand response content information provided in conjunction with the callto action, and the storage module stores the addressing information andresponse content information on a memory provided locally on thecommunication device.

In any of these embodiments, the extracted addressing information and/orresponse content information can be used in any number of beneficialways. For example, the addressing information extracted from the audiosignal may be used to automatically prepare an electronic messageresponding to the call to action, thereby facilitating a user's responseto the call to action. The response content information can be used topre-populate the electronic message with relevant content. In anotherembodiment, the addressing information and response content informationmay be used to automatically populate a contact field for inclusion in acontact list, thereby allowing the user to initiate a message using theaddressing information manually at a later time. The electronic messageor contact field may be provided on the electronic communication deviceor on a database accessible by a website through the Internet.

In another embodiment, the audio signal comprises a broadcasttransmission. A central server receives identification information forthe broadcast transmission and then tunes to the broadcast transmissionto monitor it. The central server then processes and parses thebroadcast transmission to detect a call to action in the broadcasttransmission and, responsively, to extract addressing information andresponse content information associated with the detected call toaction. The central server then transmits the addressing information andresponse content information to a mobile communication device or storesthe addressing information and response content information on adatabase that is accessible via a remote terminal through the Internet.Alternatively, instead of processing and parsing the audio signal at thecentral server, the central server receives the addressing informationand response content information associated with a call to actiondirectly from the broadcasting entity, for example, encoded in thebroadcast transmission itself or in another related transmission.

The identification information may be sent to the central server by amobile communication device. In one embodiment, the identificationinformation is obtained by the mobile communication device either byrecording the frequency, channel, or name of the broadcast transmission(e.g., in the case where the receiver of the broadcast transmission isan antenna of the mobile communication device), or by obtaining adigital fingerprint for a portion of the broadcast transmission (e.g.,in the case where the receiver of the broadcast transmission is themicrophone of the mobile communication device). The extracted addressinginformation and response content information can be used toautomatically prepare an electronic message responding to the call toaction or to automatically populate a contact field for inclusion in acontact list. The electronic message or contact field may be provided onthe electronic communication device or on a database accessible by awebsite through the Internet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A through 1C are schematic diagrams of various examplearrangements by which an audio signal may be monitored;

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a mobile communication device;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method for detecting a call to action inan audio signal, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are flow diagrams of alternative embodiments forextracting addressing information associated with a call to actiondetected in the method of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a system for detecting addressinginformation associated with a call to action in a broadcast transmissionusing a central server, in accordance with another embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method for identifying to a central servera broadcast transmission being listened to by a local device, accordingto an embodiment of the invention; and

FIGS. 7A and 7B are flow diagrams of alternative embodiments forobtaining addressing information associated with a call to action in thebroadcast transmission identified in the method of FIG. 6.

The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention forpurposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments ofthe structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention provides a means for automatically responding to a call toaction contained in an audio signal. An audio signal includes any signalthat carries audio data, including but not limited to sound waves oranalog or digital radio or television broadcasts. A call to action mayinclude any invitation to communicate or interact with any person orentity, including a request to participate in a vote, subscribe to aservice, respond to a poll, obtain a coupon, visit a website or contactan advertiser for a special offer. A call to action also includes or isotherwise associated with addressing information that allows a person tofulfill the call to action. This addressing information is typicallyprovided in conjunction with the name of the communicating entity, forexample the name of a business followed by a telephone number. Theaddressing information will depend on the type of communication is beingrequested by the call to action, such as a telephone number to make aphone call, or a number for sending a text (e.g., SMS) message.

Response content information may also provided in conjunction with thecall to action. Response content information includes any informationthat a listener is requested to include in a communication or that auser may wish to associate with the addressing information. For example,in the following call to action, “To subscribe, text the word PATENT to1122334”, the word “patent” would be response content information: Thename of a communicating entity could also be response contentinformation.

FIGS. 1A through 1C shows example ways in which an audio signal may bemonitored. In FIG. 1A, a radio receiver 105 receives a modulated analogor digital over-the-air radio signal 110 transmitted by a broadcaster115. The radio receiver 105 demodulates the radio signal and plays anaudio signal 120 through its speakers to a listener 125 who can hear it.The radio receiver 105 may be a free standing radio player or may beintegral with any other device or equipment, such as a built-in carradio player. The listener 125 carries a mobile communication device 130which is also able to receive the audio signal 120 through a microphone135 built into the device. The mobile communication device 130 may be acellular telephone, personal digital assistant, mini computer or anyother portable electronic communication device.

FIG. 1B shows another way in which an audio signal may be monitored. InFIG. 1B, a radio receiver 140 is built into the mobile communicationdevice 130. The mobile communication device 130 is thus able to directlyreceive the radio signal 110 and play an audio signal to the listener125, for example through headphones 145. Instead of a radio broadcast,the broadcast shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B could be a television ormultimedia broadcast, in which case a television set or built-in mediaplayer will replace the example of a radio receiver.

FIG. 1C shows yet another way in which an audio signal may be monitored.In FIG. 1C, the audio signal is a sound wave 150 emanating from acommunicating person 155. The sound wave 150 could be amplified byloudspeaker or sound equipment, and the communicating person 155 couldbe engaged in a face-to-face conversation with the listener 125. As inFIG. 1A, a microphone 135 of the mobile communication device is able toreceive the sound wave 150.

It will be appreciated that the alternatives shown in FIGS. 1A through1C are merely examples and are not intended to limit the ways in whichan audio signal could be monitored. For example, instead of the signalbeing monitored by a mobile communications device 130 and/or a listener125, the signal could be monitored by a central server. Any means ofmonitoring a signal that carries audio data is included within the scopeof the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the mobile communication device130 programmed to operate according to the invention. The mobilecommunication device 130 includes a receiver, which in this caseincludes an antenna 200 and a microphone 210, a speaker 205, displayinterface 215 and an input interface 220. A transceiver 225 is operableto receive and transmit data by means of the antenna 200. The mobilecommunication device also includes a processor 230 for controlling theoperation of the device, and a memory 235. An optional radio module 240is also shown. The radio module 240 could be implemented in softwareunder control of the processor or could be a stand-alone unit. The radiomodule 240 could receive radio signals from the transceiver 225 or via aseparate radio antenna 245.

Various software modules may be stored on the memory 235 and implementedby the processor 230. The software modules may include a processingmodule 250, a detecting module 255, a parsing module 260 and a storagemodule 265. A buffer file 270 may also be stored on the memory 235.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of a method according to the invention. Theillustrated method may be implemented by the processor 230 under thecontrol of the various software modules. Beginning at block 300, anaudio signal is monitored by a receiver of the mobile communicationdevice 130. The audio signal may be a modulated signal received by theantenna 200, or the audio signal may be a sound wave that is detected bythe microphone 210 and converted into an electrical signal. If thesignal is a sound wave or other analog signal, the audio signal may beconverted into digital format as shown at block 305. Dedicated circuitrymay be provided for performing the analog to digital conversion.Alternatively, the analog to digital conversion can be implemented insoftware by the processor 230 according to known techniques. If thereceived signal is already digital, for example if the signal is adigital radio signal, no analog to digital conversion is required. Next,at block 310, the audio signal is buffered by storing a predeterminednumber of bytes of the signal in the buffer file 270 on the memory 235of the mobile communication device 130. The buffer may be continuous, sothat new data received continually replaces older data in the bufferfile 270. In this way, the buffer file 270 stores a predetermined numberof seconds of audio data contained within the audio signal.

Next, at block 315, the buffered audio signal is processed by theprocessing module 250. The processing module 250 is configured torecognize spoken content contained in the audio signal according toknown techniques. Examples of technology for recognizing spoken contentin an audio signal include software programs for performing voicerecognition typing, or software programs that permit voice-activatedcontrol of an electronic device.

Then, as shown at block 320, calls to action contained in the spokencontent are detected by the detecting module 255. One way in which acall to action can be detected by the detecting module 255 is bycomparing the recognized spoken content with a predefined list of spokenindications of a call to action that are stored on the memory 235.Spoken indications of a call to action may include spoken words such as“contact”, “call”, “text”, “visit”, “send” or any other spokeninvitation to interact with an entity. An indication of a call to actionmay also include a string of characters designating a telephone number,a zip code, a URL prefix or suffix (such as “www” or “.com”), or anyother indication that addressing information is being supplied. Thebuffer file 270 is continually analyzed for spoken indications of a callto action. Upon detection of a spoken indication of a call to action,further steps are carried out to obtain addressing information andpossible response content information associated with the call toaction.

Once a spoken indication of a call to action is detected, twoalternatives are shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B for the subsequent steps ofthe method of FIG. 3. In FIG. 4A, the buffer file is parsed by theparsing module 260 to extract addressing information associated with thecall to action, as shown at block 325. The parsing module 260 may alsoextract any response content information associated with the call toaction. Next, at block 330, the addressing information and responsecontent information is stored on the memory 235 of the mobilecommunication device 130 by the storage module 265.

The stored addressing information can be used to prepare an electronicmessage responding to the call to action. The electronic message couldbe an e-mail, SMS or multimedia message displayed on the mobilecommunications device. The response content information can be used forpre-populating the electronic message with relevant content.Alternatively, instead of preparing an electronic message, theaddressing information and response content information can be used topopulate a contact field for inclusion in a contact list, such as anaddress book of the mobile communications device 130 that is stored onthe memory 235. The addressing information and/or response contentinformation could be used for many other uses, including opening aweb-browser to visit a webpage, initiating a voice call or pinpointingthe location of a physical address on a virtual map.

FIG. 4B shows an alternative for the subsequent steps of the method ofFIG. 3. In FIG. 4B, the buffer file 270 is transmitted by the mobilecommunication device 130 to a central server 400, as shown at block 340.The central server 400 is illustrated in FIG. 5. The central server 400then carries out the step of parsing the buffer file to extractaddressing and response content information, as indicated at block 345.In this case, the parsing is carried out by a parsing module on thecentral server 400. Next, at block 350, the central server 400 storesthe addressing information and response content information on adatabase 405. The database 405 may be accessible by means of a remoteterminal over the Internet 410. The parsing and storing steps carriedout by the central server 400 may be implemented by means of softwaremodules stored on a memory of the central server 400.

Optionally, as shown at step 355, the central server 400 may transmitthe extracted addressing information and response content informationback to the wireless communication device 130, which may use theaddressing information and response content information to prepare anelectronic message or populate a contact field as previously described.

It will be appreciated that one advantage of the method illustrated inFIG. 4B is that the step of parsing the buffer file 270, which can beprocessor intensive, occurs on the central server 400 where a morepowerful processor is generally available than on the mobilecommunication device 130. On the other hand, advantages of the methodillustrated in FIG. 4A are that less bandwidth is used for exchangingdata between the mobile communication device 130 and the central server400 or reduced latency in the response because it was processed locallyon the mobile communication device 130. Thus, depending on factors likethe power of the processor 230 and the speed or cost of the dataconnection between the device and the central server, one or the othermethod may be preferable.

Accordingly, the mobile communication device 130 is operable toautomatically detect a call to action contained in an audio signal,extract the addressing information and response content informationassociated with the call to action, and then automatically prepare anelectronic message responding to the call to action or populate acontact field for inclusion in a contact list of the device. In oneexample use of embodiments of the invention, the listener 125 mayactivate a software program on the mobile communication device 130 tocause the device to monitor a broadcast radio signal while the listeneris driving or exercising. For each call to action transmitted in thebroadcast, the device either prepares a message responding to the callto action or populates a contact field for inclusion in a contact list.At the end of the broadcast transmission, or at any point during thetransmission, the listener is able to review the list of messages and/orcontact fields captured by the device. The listener can then eitherdiscard the contacts or include them in an address book stored on thememory of the device, and can choose to either discard the automaticallyprepared messages or transmit them. In this way, a mobile communicationdevice programmed to operate according to the invention overcomes theproblem of a listener not being able to record or remember theaddressing information contained in a call to action to which thelistener wishes to respond. The invention provides a convenient way forrecording or responding to these calls to action.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of another general embodiment ofthe invention. In FIG. 5, the audio signal is a broadcast transmission415, such as a radio or television broadcast, which is transmitted by abroadcaster 115 and received by the mobile communication device 130. Thebroadcast transmission 415 can either be received directly by the mobilecommunication device 130 as described with reference to FIG. 1B, or canbe received by the microphone of the mobile communication device 130 asdescribed with reference to FIG. 1A. The mobile communication device 130is able to wirelessly communicate with a central server 400 through awireless link 420. The central server 400 is coupled to a database 405which may be accessible through the Internet 410 as will be furtherdescribed herein.

Referring now to FIG. 6, which is a flow diagram that illustrates amethod according to the embodiment of FIG. 5, the mobile communicationdevice 130 receives the broadcast transmission 415 as shown at block500. Next, the device obtains identification information for thebroadcast transmission 415 at block 505. Identification informationcould include the frequency of the channel or station received by themobile communication device 230 in the case where the broadcasttransmission 415 is received directly by the radio module 240 of thedevice, or may include a characteristic digital fingerprint for aportion of the broadcast transmission 415 in the case where thebroadcast transmission 415 is received by the microphone 210 of themobile communication device 130. Digital fingerprints may be generatedby known methods. The identification information is generated by anidentification module implemented in software by the processor 230.

Next, at block 510, the mobile communication device 130 transmits theidentification information to the central server 400 through thewireless link 420. The central server 400 then uses the identificationinformation to tune to the same broadcast transmission 415 received bythe mobile communication device, as shown at block 515.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show two alternatives for the subsequent steps of themethod of FIG. 6. In FIG. 7A, the central server 400 processes thebroadcast transmission 415 to recognize spoken content therein as shownat block 520, and then detects a call to action contained in the spokencontent as shown at block 525. The processing and detection steps arecarried out by processing and detection modules at the central server400. Next, at block 530, the central server 400 parses the broadcasttransmission 415 to extract the addressing information and responsecontent information therefrom. The parsing is carried out by a parsingmodule at the central server 400. Finally, as shown at block 535, thecentral server stores the addressing information and response contentinformation in the database 405.

In FIG. 7B, instead of processing and parsing the broadcast transmission415, the central server 400 receives the addressing information and/orresponse content information directly from the broadcaster 115, as shownat block 540, and then stores the addressing information and responsecontent information in the database 405 as shown at block 545. Thissecond alternative may require a preexisting arrangement to beestablished between the entity responsible for managing the system ofthe invention and the entity responsible for transmitting thebroadcasts. In this arrangement, the broadcasting entity may supply allof the broadcast contact information to the entity responsible formanaging the system of the invention. The broadcast contact informationcould be transmitted by the broadcasting entity either by encoding it inthe broadcast transmission or by sending it another relatedtransmission. This arrangement has the significant advantage that theaddressing information and response content information obtained islikely to be far more accurate and reliable than in case where thesystem must analyze and extract the information from spoken content inthe broadcast audio signal.

Instead of, or in addition to, storing the addressing information andresponse content information on the database 405, the central server 400may transmit the addressing information and response content informationto the mobile communication device 130 through the wireless link 420.The addressing information and response content information can then beused by the mobile communication device 130 to prepare an electronicmessage responding to the call to action or to populate a contact fieldfor inclusion in a contact list, as has been described herein.

Where the addressing information and response content information is nottransmitted to the mobile communication device 130, in one embodiment,the addressing information and response content information stored onthe database 405 is presented to the listener 125 by means of a terminalthat can access the database 405 through the Internet 410. In thisembodiment, the list of messages and/or contact fields is presented tothe listener by a website. For example, the listener may visit aspecified website and input login information to access a secure area ofthe website where the list of messages and/or contact fields will bedisplayed. The listener can then decide whether to discard each contactor include the contact in an address book implemented on the website,and can either choose to discard or transmit each automatically preparedmessage. The website may be configured to emulate the listener's mobilecommunication device, so that a message sent by means of the websiteappears to the recipient to have been sent from the mobile communicationdevice. The website may permit e-mail or SMS messages to be transmitted.This embodiment has the advantage that a listener's mobile communicationdevice is not bombarded by a multitude of separate draft messages orcontact fields; the listener can instead visit a website and deal withall the captured address information at the same time.

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has beenpresented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the abovedisclosure. For example, in one broad embodiment it is not evennecessary that a listener use a mobile communication device or evenactively listen to a broadcast audio signal. According to this aspect ofthe invention a listener could log in to a website hosted by the centralserver, select from a list one or more broadcast channels which thelistener desires to monitor for calls to action, and later retrieve theautomatically prepared messages and/or the populated contact fields bymeans of the website.

Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of theinvention in terms of symbolic representations of operations oninformation. These algorithmic descriptions and representations arecommonly used by those skilled in the data processing arts to convey thesubstance of their work effectively to others skilled in the art. Theseoperations, while described functionally, computationally, or logically,are understood to be implemented by computer programs or equivalentelectrical circuits, microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has alsoproven convenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of operationsas modules, without loss of generality. The described operations andtheir associated modules may be embodied in software, firmware,hardware, or any combinations thereof.

Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may beperformed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules,alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, asoftware module is implemented with a computer program productcomprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code,which can be executed by a computer processor for performing any or allof the steps, operations, or processes described.

As used herein, the term “storing the addressing information” includesstoring the addressing information in permanent memory or in RAM, andincludes any means, however ephemeral, for keeping the addressinginformation for further use, including transmitting the addressinginformation to another location or entity for remote storage.

Embodiments of the invention may also relate to an apparatus forperforming the operations herein. This apparatus may be speciallyconstructed for the required purposes, and/or it may comprise ageneral-purpose computing device selectively activated or reconfiguredby a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer programmay be stored in a tangible computer readable storage medium or any typeof media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and coupled to acomputer system bus. Furthermore, any computing systems referred to inthe specification may include a single processor or may be architecturesemploying multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principallyselected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not havebeen selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited notby this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on anapplication based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodimentsof the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, ofthe scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

1. A method for responding to a call to action contained in an audiosignal, the method being performed by a processor of a computing deviceand comprising: receiving an audio signal; processing at least a portionof the audio signal to recognize spoken content; detecting a call toaction in the recognized spoken content; parsing the detected call toaction to extract addressing information to initiate a communicationwith an entity, the detected call to action corresponding to aninvitation to initiate the communication with the entity that isresponsible for providing the audio signal; and storing the extractedaddressing information in a memory resource of the computing device. 2.The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically preparing anelectronic message responding to the call to action using the extractedaddressing information.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprisingparsing the detected call to action to extract response contentinformation and pre-populating the electronic message with the responsecontent information.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprisingautomatically populating a contact field for inclusion in a contact listusing the extracted addressing information.
 5. The method of claim 4,further comprising parsing the detected call to action to extractresponse content information and pre-populating the contact field withthe response content information.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein theextracted addressing information is stored in a database accessible by auser of the computing device.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereindetecting a call to action in the recognized spoken content includescomparing the recognized spoken content with a predefined set ofcharacter strings that indicate a presence of the call to action in therecognized spoken content.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein thepredefined set of character strings includes a string of characters thatdesignate at least one of a telephone number, a zip code, a URL prefix,or a URL suffix.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the audiosignal includes receiving a sound wave corresponding to the audio signalusing a microphone of the computing device, and converting the soundwave to a digital signal.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein receivingthe audio signal includes receiving a digital signal from a broadcastcommunication using a transceiver of the computing device.
 11. A methodfor responding to a call to action contained in a broadcasttransmission, the method being performed by a processor of a computingdevice and comprising: receiving an audio signal; processing at least aportion of the audio signal to recognize spoken content; detecting acall to action in the recognized spoken content; transmittinginformation corresponding to the detected call to action to a remoteserver over a network to enable the remote server to (i) parse thedetected call to action to extract addressing information, and (ii)store the addressing information in a database, the detected call toaction corresponding to an invitation to initiate a communication withan entity that is responsible for providing the audio signal; andreceiving the extracted addressing information from the remote serverover the network to use the extracted addressing information to initiatethe communication with the entity.
 12. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising automatically preparing an electronic message responding tothe call to action using the extracted addressing information.
 13. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising automatically populating acontact field for inclusion in a contact list using the extractedaddressing information.
 14. The method of claim 11, further comprisinginitiating a phone communication using the extracted addressinginformation.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein detecting a call toaction in the recognized spoken content includes comparing therecognized spoken content with a predefined set of character stringsthat indicate a presence of the call to action in the recognized spokencontent.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the predefined set ofcharacter strings includes a string of characters that designate atleast one of a telephone number, a zip code, a URL prefix, or a URLsuffix.
 17. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the audio signalincludes receiving a sound wave corresponding to the audio signal usinga microphone of the computing device, and converting the sound wave to adigital signal.
 18. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the audiosignal includes receiving a digital signal from a broadcastcommunication using a transceiver of the computing device.
 19. Anon-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, whenexecuted by a processor of a computing device, causes the processor toperform steps comprising: receiving an audio signal; processing at leasta portion of the audio signal to recognize spoken content; detecting acall to action in the recognized spoken content; parsing the detectedcall to action to extract addressing information to initiate acommunication with an entity, the detected call to action correspondingto an invitation to initiate the communication with the entity that isresponsible for providing the audio signal; and storing the extractedaddressing information in a memory resource of the computing device. 20.The computer readable medium of claim 19, further storing instructionsthat cause the processor to automatically prepare an electronic messageresponding to the call to action using the extracted addressinginformation.
 21. The computer readable medium of claim 19, furtherstoring instructions that cause the processor to automatically populatea contact field for inclusion in a contact list using the extractedaddressing information.
 22. A mobile communication device capable ofresponding to a call to action contained in an audio signal, the mobilecommunication device comprising: a receiver for receiving an audiosignal; a memory capable of storing computer program code; and aprocessor for implementing instructions contained in the computerprogram code, the processor to: process at least a portion of the audiosignal to recognize spoken content therein; detect a call to action inthe recognized spoken content; parse the detected call to action toextract addressing information to initiate the communication with theentity, the detected call to action corresponding to an invitation toinitiate a communication with an entity that is responsible forproviding the audio signal; and store the extracted addressinginformation in the memory.
 23. A mobile communication device capable ofresponding to a call to action contained in an audio signal, the mobilecommunication device comprising: a receiver for receiving an audiosignal; a memory capable of storing computer program code; and aprocessor for implementing instructions contained in the computerprogram code, the processor to; maintain a continuous buffer of theaudio signal; process at least a portion of the audio signal torecognize spoken content therein; detect a call to action in therecognized spoken content; transmit information corresponding to thedetected call to action to a remote server over a network to enable theremote server to (i) parse the detected call to action to extractaddressing information, and (ii) store the addressing information in adatabase, the detected call to action corresponding to an invitation toinitiate a communication with an entity that is responsible forproviding the audio signal; receive the extracted addressing informationfrom the remote server to use the extracted addressing information toinitiate the communication with the entity; and store the addressinginformation on the memory.